In January 2012, as part of a Library "Re-organization" an unspecified number of layoffs were announced in the Harvard Library system. Unlike in 2008, its endowment has returned to profitability. Join us in building a struggle against layoffs at Harvard.
We stand in solidarity with all workers who are threatened with the pink slip and for reinstatement for those who have lost their jobs.

Pressure, Panic and Layoffs in University Financial Services

By Geoff Carens
Pedestrians strolling by Harvard’s impressive buildings might assume
that the employees within, especially those fortunate enough to belong
to a union, enjoy enviable working conditions. But in one Harvard
workplace, University Financial Services (UFS), union members have
endured six harrowing months of unrelenting pressure to work faster or
risk being laid off. On September 24, UFS managers announced their
intention to terminate three employees deemed “not fast enough.” Union
members who have young children and elderly dependents face the
unemployment line, wondering how they will get by in the months ahead.
In March, Human Resources Officer Michelle Roach told members of the
Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) in UFS that
their jobs were being “expanded.” Roach wrote, “The next six months will
be considered a transition period… your continuation in this role…is
contingent upon your work performance and skills development meeting the
needs of your expanded role.” Employees were offered no choice; they
had to accept this precarious situation in order to keep their jobs.
While a few workers received small salary increases, other staff
received no compensation for their increased responsibilities and extra
work.
After Roach’s announcement, David Casavant, Manager of Accounts
Payable Operations, began calculating average rates for invoice
processing by union members. Eventually everyone was under pressure to
work at or above the average rate at least 75% of the time. Of course,
unless all of the workers processed invoices at exactly the same speed,
this benchmark is mathematically impossible for an entire group to
achieve. Workers understood that if they did not out-perform their
colleagues, they could be fired.
This production pressure was accompanied by other changes. For
instance, supervisors began attributing mistakes to the current workweek
regardless of when the tasks involved were actually performed. One
worker told me she was taken to task, many months later, for 12 or 13
so-called mistakes she had supposedly made back in December 2011, when
she was still being trained. At the same time, managers suggested to
employees that they would lose their jobs if they did not perform
flawlessly. Casavant sent the same message to multiple employees: “…Your
error rate [of two or fewer mistakes out of hundreds or thousands of
data entries per week] is not acceptable…your progress to date in this
area puts you at risk of not succeeding during this transition period.”
Management told the UFS staff that their jobs could be outsourced, and
then implausibly added that this was not a threat.
Despite their insistence on flawless performance, managers ignored
repeated requests for relevant training. Instead, workers say they were
sent to classes that “had nothing to do with our jobs.” For instance, an
African-American employee, whose first language is English, was told to
take a pronunciation class meant for workers who grew up speaking
another language, and who lack fluency in English. Incredulous but not
wanting to give management any excuse to terminate her, she signed up.
Her teacher wrote, “When I assessed you there was very little evidence
of any problems with your speech…the fact that you spoke so clearly when
we met indicates that you have all the skills you need…I don’t think it
makes sense for you to attend the Pronunciation class.” Despite these
comments, in a meeting on September 17, various managers claimed they
had trouble understanding the employee, who told me that she
understandably feels “insulted.”
The pressure to work ever faster without mistakes has negatively
impacted employees’ health. One worker had a panic attack at work and
left in an ambulance. Another had to take a stress-related disability
leave. A third employee, skilled and dependable with 24 years of
service, attributes her need to resume taking high blood pressure
medication to unending exhortations to speed up at work. The medication
compelled her to use the restroom more than other workers; fearful that
she would be perceived as lagging, she asked to document the reason for
her restroom breaks, but was not allowed to do so. Now she too has taken
has taken disability leave.
In a meeting that I attended as a union rep on September 24, Casavant
and HR Rep Nicole Breen announced their plan to lay off three of the
workers in UFS. All three are over 40 and people of color, and two are
African-American women. Breen admitted that there was no reason to
terminate anyone due to lack of work in the department, acknowledging “a
unique situation [in] that you eliminate jobs without the work going
away.” On September 25, Casavant emailed staff in the unit to announce
that three temporary workers – not entitled to union wages, benefits, or
protections – would be starting the next day, replacing the workers who
were no longer in the office. Reportedly these temporary employees have
already called in sick several times in their first weeks on the job,
and staff who remain are overloaded with work without their experienced
colleagues to assist them.
All the pressure, threats of layoff, health consequences for the
workers, and now job losses appear to have been completely unnecessary.
The UFS work group historically met or beat every deadline, and
employees in UFS were routinely pulled off their regular jobs to assist
other departments. As Massachusetts’ fifth-largest employer and Cambridge’s largest,
Harvard helps set regional employment standards. Concerned community
members, pro-labor students, and activists in my union are determined to
push for justice for those who face the loss of their jobs. We know
their treatment threatens a destructive ripple effect far beyond the
walls of University Financial Services.Geoff Carens is a Union Representative in the Harvard Union of
Clerical and Technical Workers and a member of the Industrial Workers of
the World. A Library Assistant in Lamont Library, he attends the
Harvard Extension School.

Protesters Gather To Support Pilar

Inspired by Johany Pilar, a worker in Harvard's
Mailroom, the Harvard community gathers at the Holyoke Center to protest
sexual harassment.

About 65 Harvard employees, students, and community
members protested in front of the Holyoke Center early Thursday evening
in support of Johany Pilar, a science center mailroom worker who says
she was sexually harassed.
For about an hour, protesters listened
to several speakers, chanted, and marched in circles. The rally was
sponsored by student groups such as Black Harvard Women, Harvard College
International Women’s Rights Collective, Harvard Socialists at GSAS,
and Harvard Student Labor Action Movement.
“I think that the large
number of students who showed up was a testament to the fact that
people are angry enough,” Student Labor Action Movement member Kirin
Gupta ’16 said. “The protest showed the outrage that Harvard has brought
upon itself.”
Pilar, who was present at the protest but did not
speak, publicly shared her story for the first time at a Rape Culture
Panel hosted by the IWRC last week.
At
the panel, Pilar said that a co-worker grabbed her face on two separate
occasions last spring and said he wanted to kiss her. Pilar felt
uncomfortable and immediately reported the incident to the management,
who she said prevented her from attending therapy sessions and
threatened her with disciplinary action or termination.
Flyers distributed at the event said that Pilar has filed a complaint with the Massachussetts Commission Against Discrimination.
University
spokesperson Kevin Galvin declined to comment on the specific case but
said in an emailed statement to the Crimson that the University takes
such allegation seriously. The University, he wrote, maintains a “policy
of non-retaliation to encourage employees to come forward with
complaints so that allegations can be investigated.”
Pilar told
The Crimson that the rally demonstrates to others who have been harassed
the supportive community surrounding this issue.
“I don’t want to shut my mouth,” Pilar said.
Geoffrey
P. Carens, a library assistant and Pilar’s representative in the
Harvard Union of Clerical Technical Workers, led many of the protest’s
chants and introduced its speakers. He said that the purpose of the
event was to raise public awareness about Pilar’s situation and sexual
harassment in general.
Protesters said that they want Harvard to
respond directly to Pilar’s case and change their policies in handling
workers’ grievances.
“We want Harvard to issue a formal apology to
Johany and make sure that she never has to work with that man again,”
Amanda Haziz-Ginsberg, a recent Divinity School graduate and member of
Harvard Socialists at GSAS, said. “Enough is enough. We will not put up
with this.”
—Staff writer Michelle Denise L. Fereol can be reached at mferreol@college.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Samuel Y. Weinstock can be reached at sweinstock@college.harvard.edu.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Defend Johany Pilar! Fight Rape Culture in the Workplace

Since 1998, HUCTW member Johany Pilar has worked in Harvard's Science Center Mail Room. She first reported unwanted advances and physical contact from a co-worker in March of this year. Ever since she complained about sexual harassment, Johany has faced retaliation from managers. She's experienced pressure, unequal treatment compared to co-workers, and threats.

On September 14, Johany received an unfair disciplinary warning threatening her with being fired. Johany has never been warned for anything in all her years at Harvard. She has started a lawsuit with the MA Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD).

Please come to an action supporting Johany and all those who stand up against gender discrimination, sexual harassment, & for their right to fair and equal treatment on the job!

We are writing to raise an important issue
regarding the treatment of Harvard University Clerical and Technical
Workers member Ms. Johany Pilar. We understand that on 3/2/12, 4/4/12
and 4/10/12, Ms. Pilar reported unwanted advances and physical contact
from a co-worker. Apparently Ms. Pilar was instructed to train the
co-worker even after reporting this harrassment. During the training she
experienced more unwelcome physical contact. We understand that on
5/9/12, Ms. Pilar’s supervisor Chris Tolkacz insistently pressured Ms.
Johany to cancel a therapy appointment she had set up because of the
sexual harassment. Mr. Tolkacz apparently made this demand repeatedly,
despite knowing the reason for Ms. Pilar’s appointment. We have learned
that this interaction was so upsetting that it caused Ms. Pilar to have a
panic attack in the workplace, which she had to leave by ambulance.
Ms. Pilar was subsequently admitted to Mount Auburn Hospital suffering
from “severe anxiety.”

We understand that on 5/31/12, Ms. Pilar was
denied a reasonable accommodation to her back pain by management.
Although her doctor cleared her to return to work, with the sole
restriction that she not lift more than ten pounds, management refused
to allow her to return to work, using the excuse that it was not
possible to monitor the weights of packages in the mailroom. This seems
clearly specious, as many of the packages reportedly bear labels
recording their weight. Ms. Pilar lost an entire week’s wages due to
management’s denying her accommodation. We are informed that on 6/5/12,
Betsy Shortell, Manager of University Mail Services, confronted Ms.
Pilar in the workplace, repeatedly asked her the same questions, and,
despite all of Ms. Pilar’s responses being polite and appropriate,
accused Ms. Pilar of ignoring her, and stated, “If in the future I am
talking to you and you avoid me, you will have a big, big problem with
me.”

We have learned that on 8/28/12, Ms. Pilar
visited Urgent Care and was prescribed anti-inflammatory and muscle
relaxant medication for throat pain and inflammation. On 9/1/12, she
awoke to find that her throat pain had worsened and that she was unable
to talk, and could barely swallow. She reported a sick day in Harvard’s
PeopleSoft system, which she had been using for months to report sick
days. On 9/5/12, Ms. Pilar made a request for extra hours and was told
by Betsy Shortell, “Before we discuss extra hours, we need to sit down
and talk about your unexcused absence Saturday, September 1.” We are
informed that Ms. Shortell telephoned Ms. Pilar and stated that if she
did not meet with Shortell and HR, she would be fired. On 9/7/12, Ms.
Pilar provided management with a doctor’s letter stating that she needed
to stay out of work for the next three days because of the condition in
her throat. Despite this, on 9/14/12, management issued a written
warning which stated she had failed to follow time off request
procedures and was required when reporting a sick day “to speak to a
management person live.” This written warning skipped over the verbal
warning step in the HUCTW disciplinary process, and made no allowances
for Ms. Pilar’s abundantly documented throat pain and inflammation. We
regard it as another instance of the harassment, threats and unfair
treatment that Ms. Pilar has faced since reporting sexual harassment in
the workplace. We understand that Ms. Pilar, who has worked at Harvard
since 1998, never received any discipline before she reported the
unwanted advances and physical contact on the job. Ms. Pilar has filed a
lawsuit with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD)
due to the retaliation she has faced.

Students in support of Johany Pilar have
taken notice. We are disturbed by the way Ms. Pilar has been treated in
her workplace. We stand in solidarity with a woman who appears to have
been denied the right to speak out without repercussions in the face of
consistent harassment and discrimination. When a worker is disciplined
as a result of speaking up about sexual harassment, it is not only an
injustice to that individual, but also serves to normalize harassment
more broadly by silencing victims and emboldening harassers. A system
that does not take sexual harassment seriously ultimately serves to
reinforce rape culture, the set of attitudes, norms and practices that
allow for sexual violence that persists in our community.

We demand that the University rescind the
discipline against Ms. Pilar, provide her with a new supervisor, and
give departmental managers the training they need to treat workers who
have reported sexual harassment appropriately in the future. We believe
that these steps are necessary in maintaining a workplace consistent
with the values advanced in Harvard’s Non-Discrimination Policy.

We hope that Ms. Pilar’s story will bring
attention to the many ways rape culture affects our community. We pledge
to support Ms. Johany Pilar in her struggle to secure fair treatment by
our university and urge you to join us to show your solidarity.

Mailroom Worker Alleges Harassment

On Wednesday October 10, members of the Harvard community gather to discuss rape culture.

The room fell silent seconds before Science Center mail
clerk Johany Pilar spoke at the panel discussion on gender inequality on
“rape culture” on Wednesday.
“Maybe you don’t remember me,” she began softly. “But I have been here for a really long time.”
Pilar
clutched at her throat, which was hurting, and asked the more than 20
students who had gathered in a tiny Boylston classroom to be patient
with her. Though her every word required obvious effort, she wanted to
be heard.
“I am here because what happened to me could happen to you tomorrow,” she said. “I don’t want that.
”Late
last February, Pilar said, she became the victim of sexual harassment
by one of her co-workers in the freshman mailroom. She said her
co-worker, “bigger and older” than her, grabbed her face between his
thumb and pointer finger and said that he wanted to kiss her.

Photo

Pilar said that she felt uncomfortable and immediately
told her co-worker not to touch her again. Despite apologizing after the
first incident, she said, the man repeated the same behavior again just
a few days later.
“He did it again. He grabbed my face,” Pilar said, mimicking the man’s grip on her face with her own hand. “He did it again!”
Pilar
said she then contacted a female manager of University Mail Services
about the harassment by email. Pilar said that in response, the manager
told her to stop hugging people and to try to be nice and work
professionally. No action was taken against her co-worker, she said.
In
April, Pilar said, the same co-worker grabbed her hand twice. She
reported that incident to another mail services supervisor, who said
that he would reassign the man so he would no longer come in contact
with her, Pilar said.
Overcome by stress due to the harassment,
she said, she started seeing a therapist and was admitted to Mount
Auburn Hospital after a panic attack in May. She felt that she was being
pressured by managers because she had reported the harassment; in
September, she said, she received a written message informing her that
she could be fired for an unreported absence.
“I’m not going to
shut my mouth. I’m not afraid,” she said. “I’m not doing this for me to
be in the mailroom working, but for justice.”
Wednesday evening
marked the first time that Pilar spoke about her sexual harassment
experience in a public forum, and she plans to continue to make her
story public. At the panel, hosted by the International Women’s Rights
Collective and several other organizations to discuss gender inequality,
Pilar asked students for their support. A flyer handed out at the panel
said that on Oct. 18, students will gather at the Holyoke Center to
support Pilar and “stand up against gender discrimination, sexual
harassment, & for their right to fair and equal treatment on the
job.”
Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers
representative Geoffrey Carens, who is helping Pilar make her story
known, was also present at the event.
“Johany has really taken it on the chin for what she has done,” he said. “She has been incredibly, incredibly brave.”
Carens
said that he helped Pilar file a complaint with the Massachusetts
Commission Against Discrimination at the beginning of the month. That
complaint will be assigned to an investigator in the state office.
Meanwhile,
Pilar is involved in the grievance filing process through HUCTW as
well. Bill Jaeger, the director of HUCTW, said privacy rules prevented
him from discussing Pilar’s case specifically. But he commented, “We
have a union management grievance process that we really believe in,
that works extremely well to bring about fair outcomes.”
Pilar,
who is originally from the Dominican Republic, said she has previously
faced domestic violence. Working at Harvard since 1998, she said she has
maintained a spotless disciplinary record.
Students at the event
said that they saw Pilar’s story as an isolated incident reflecting
harassment that happens frequently among college students as well.“
We
don’t really talk about sexual assault even though it’s something that
affects our lives. Most of the time, we even engage in
‘victim-blaming’,” said Kate Sim ’14, president of the International
Women’s Rights Collective. “This is a mindset that has to be changed.
How are we expected to be students here if we don’t even feel safe to
speak up?”
—Samuel Y. Weinstock contributed to the reporting of this article.
—Staff writer Michelle Denise L. Ferreol can be reached at mferreol@college.harvard.edu.

2009 Platform

2. For a union that stands up publicly to protect workers. We call for building alliances with other campus unions, students, and community groups to oppose such problems as under-staffing, spiking medical costs, speed ups, and racial discrimination.

3. For raises of 6% per year, plus a cost of living adjustment tied to local cost of living indexes - Boston is the third most expensive city in the U.S.